


Support and Hope

by ladyarcherfan3



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:31:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7890043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyarcherfan3/pseuds/ladyarcherfan3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some time after the events of The Force Awakens, Leia and Luke meet again and deal with their grief.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Support and Hope

Mourning was not something Leia had ever had the luxury to indulge in. Not after Alderaan, or Bespin. Not after Ben turned to the Dark Side and renamed himself. 

Not when Han was killed by their son. 

She was a leader, a politician, a general and there was a Resistance to run and a war to fight. She had rarely stopped and let the weight of grief and pain weigh her down, to feel it and come to peace with it. By this point in her life, she wasn’t sure if she even knew how to grieve like a normal person. Or if her constant movement was her only coping method for anything and everything. 

Then the _Falcon_ landed on the Resistance base again, returning Rey and Chewie and bringing back Luke. Leia watched as Rey trotted down the ramp, nodded in return to the young woman’s awkward wave, but didn’t try to distract her from meeting Finn and Poe; the two men had become nearly inseparable since Finn’s recovery, and Leia was sure the duo would become a trio just as quickly; she knew something about that. Chewie followed, steady and slow. In a wave of deja vu, Leia smiled up at him as he growled a greeting and wrapped her in a warm hug. She let herself be held longer than usual; Chewie didn’t let go until she moved away. 

Luke hovered at the ramp, looking as out of place as the sun bleached farm boy she had known him as first, despite his grey hair and beard. But the weight of years hung heavy from his shoulders, dimmed his eyes. Leia felt him reach out to her with the Force, a gentle brush of his mind on her’s asking how she was and offering instinctive comfort in a heartbeat. 

That gentle touch, the familiar comfort of his presence - as bright and warm and strong as twin suns - was what broke her defenses. She crossed the short distance between them in a rush. His arms banded around her as she buried her face in his shoulder. Tears burned in her eyes, but she fought them back. 

“Leia?” 

She could sense his confusion and stress and his own pain, even as he tried to soothe her. She was always the strong one, the one who had to be persuaded to accept help and comfort. It just wasn’t her. 

“I’m just so _tired_ ,” she gritted out. 

He gently pulled away, but it was only to turn her before pressing close to her side again, his arm around her back. “Let’s go somewhere we can talk in private,” he suggested.

A small crowd had gathered as the news of the Falcon’s return spread through the base. More than a few people were there just to see the mythic Jedi, their General’s brother. Poe, Finn and Rey were doing a good job at keeping them distracted for the moment. Leia nodded in agreement with Luke and caught Poe’s eye. He saluted and started shuffling the crowd away. 

She didn’t hear what he was saying exactly, but she could guess. Master Skywalker and the General had to confer in private, what were all ogling at, the ship would be there tomorrow, didn’t they all have jobs they should be doing instead of slacking? 

Leia and Luke retreated to her sparse quarters, dodging an ecstatic Artoo and a fussy Threepio. An aide grabbed food and passed it to Leia without comment. Leia wasn’t sure the last time she had eaten; obviously she wasn’t starving, but that was mostly due to her aides and a few officers who paid more attention that she did, especially when everything was falling apart around them.

Luke perched on the edge of her chair as she collapsed on her bed, curling her legs up under her and wedging her body into a corner. Her joints would probably hate her in the morning if she stayed like that for very long, but she needed all the support she could get. They were silent until the food was gone, and then Luke cleared his throat, eyes on the ground.

“I’m sorry, Leia.” 

“For what?” Her voice was sharper than she meant it to be, but it broke open the dam around her pain. “For Ben turning to the Darkside? For disappearing? For Han?” As suddenly as it had hit her, the sharpness of her pain faded to a dull, aching throb of loss. 

Luke didn’t move except to look up at her. Guilt, pain and then acceptance moved over his face, and the same emotions ran from his mind to her’s. 

She took a careful breath. “I’m sorry. We all made the choices we did. We can’t go back and change them now. We can only go forward.”

“That seems to be us in a nutshell. You looking ahead and moving to the future, me looking behind and remembering.” Some of the tension leached out of him and he leaned back in the chair. 

Leia shrugged in acknowledgement, though she knew it was true. At the same time, she had experienced more than enough of the past, as it came back to haunt her; both from her own decisions as well as those of her parents. Luke had used the past as a foundation to build a future for the Jedi in the galaxy. The events that had occurred to lead to the massacre at the Jedi temple had been out of his control. 

The holopad on her desk pinged with an alert, and she started to move for it but stopped. She could take a little bit of time for herself, for the past. When she looked back at Luke, his eyes were shining with tears.

“I felt it when… I felt it through the Force when Han… I could sense your grief, too.” His voice was rough. 

Tears threatened her, and she struggled to speak, her tone turning sharp and sarcastic. “My shields must be slipping, if you felt that all the way out where you were.” 

“Leia.” 

She shook her head, brushing away the stray tear that had escaped. “I know, I know. I just can’t entirely believe that he’s not going to show up in that old ship of his ever again.” 

Luke got out of the chair and sat next to Leia on the bed. He took her hand in both of his and sat in silence, using the Force to show her the emotions and memories that he couldn’t adequately put to words. Leia dropped her shields and did the same for him, leaning into his shoulder. 

Eventually, Luke spoke out loud again. “I felt the awakening in the Force when Rey reached for it. It was such a surprising burst of hope. At the same time, I was terrified because of what happened last time I tried to be a teacher and show someone the ways of the Force.” He shook his head and smiled. “But she reminded me of you, a bit. Wouldn’t take no for an answer, all fire and stubbornness.”

“She reminded me of you,” Leia countered. “All wide eyed and determined.”

They looked at each other and started laughing. 

“I’m not sure if it’s a good thing that she reminds us of each other. Look how much trouble we’ve managed to get ourselves into while we were young.” She straightened and uncurled, and squeezed Luke’s shoulder. “But you should also talk to Finn now that you are here. He’s not as strong as Rey, but he has an acute sensitivity to the Force.”

Luke hummed in agreement. “I wondered as much, from some of the things Rey had said about him. Maybe you should be the person to work with him. Your mental shields and ability to read a situation through the Force was always stronger than mine, even after my training.” 

“The difference is, you know how to instruct someone to do it. It was all instinct for me. I couldn’t teach it if I tried.” And she had tried, from the time that Ben’s power with the Force had become obvious. It hadn’t worked. 

“Don’t blame yourself. Move forward, remember?” Luke murmured, catching the edge of her thoughts.

Leia took a deep breath and stood up. “I should find out what they need me for now,” she said, reaching for the holopad. 

“Do you need some rest? The Resistance can stand on its own feet for a few hours if you need it.” 

She shook her head. “I’m good. I’ll be better if I know you can stay. At least for awhile.” 

Luke nodded and stood as well. “I can stay. I am beginning to think that utter solitude, no matter how conducive it seems for focus, isn’t always the best option. Rey and I can continue here, and be useful when we are not training.” 

“Good. Come on. We can’t let the younger generation think we’re soft or slowing down.” 

“Even if it is true,” Luke muttered as his joints cracked. “But both Jedis and Generals need to maintain an air of mystery and power.” A smile tugged at his lips. 

Leia opened the door and stepped out into the hall. “Let’s set this universe as right as we can while we’re still here.”

Luke took her hand and again and squeezed it as he came next to her. “Lead on, General.” 

“Oh stop,” she rolled her eyes, but smiled. She leaned against his side for a moment and then kissed him on the cheek. “Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my amazing beta, [gloriousclio](http://archiveofourown.org/users/glorious_clio/pseuds/glorious_clio), who is also the person I blame for writing Star Wars fic now. So go bother her and read her stuff as well.


End file.
